Chocolate Hearts and Teddy Bears
by FrostyFingers
Summary: Sometimes there can be trouble in paradise, especially when it comes to these two - Rated T for language, one-shot [Lizzington]


AN: I'll just leave this here for you. Thank you, jackandsamforever, for beta-ing again! You will probably not hear anything from me for a while now. World Cup time! Have fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Blacklist

THE BLACKLIST

She had been in a bad mood since the day before; snapping at him whenever he dared to breathe, and refusing to tell him the nature of the problem while telling him that maybe he was the one with the problem. He had tried, really tried to be gentle and understanding, though he had no idea what he was pretending to be understanding about. She wouldn't let him touch her or come near her, and had even refused to sleep in the same bed with him. Since he didn't want to just leave her, he had opted for sleeping on the couch. At least he had Hudson to keep him company.

He had just gotten off the phone with Dembe and walked back into the living room where she was sitting curled up on the soda, watching TV.

"Where do you want to go for dinner, sweetheart?" He asked, sitting down on the armrest of the couch next to her head.

"I don't know."

Red pursed his lips. "We'll go anywhere you want. Haven't you wanted to try that new Chinese place, _Ming Dynasty_?" Liz just shrugged. "How about Vietnamese?" No reaction. "Anything Asian? How about Italian? There's that new fancy restaurant at The Ritz. I've heard that it's fully booked every night, but I'm sure I can get us a table."

"I don't know."

He licked his lips to moisten them and took a breath. "Surely you have a preference."

"I don't know!" Liz said, louder this time.

"Listen, just tell me where you want to go," he tried again.

Liz shot up from the couch, the blanket dropping to the floor. "I told you, I don't know where to go!"

"Yes, you do! You know where to go, god damn it! You name the place and we'll leave right now!" His voice was raised now, too. She just glared at him instead of answering. "Alright," he sighed. "Chinese it is. You'll have to get changed."

"Oh, so now you don't like the way I dress?" She said snidely.

Red was stunned into silence for a moment. "What?"

"You don't like the way I look?"

"I never said that," he told her firmly.

Her eyes were blazing with anger and he couldn't help notice how alluring that made her look. "Are you afraid about what people will think when they see me with you?"

How on earth had they allowed things to get this bad? "Fine. Just stay like that. Can we go now or would you like to throw another tantrum?"

"How dare you. You're saying this is my fault now?!" She yelled.

Red huffed a sarcastic laugh. "It is."

"Well if I'm such a pain in the ass, then why don't you go back to fucking Madeline Pratt, since that's what you both want!" Liz spat.

The silence was deafening. They both continued glaring at each other. Red's face showed true anger now, and a couple of seconds later he stood and left without another word; slamming the front door on his way out.

Liz went back to the sofa and curled up into a corner, letting out a sob. The pain was just too much.

THE BLACKLIST

Red hadn't said a word since telling Dembe where to drive. He was angry, furious even, and he didn't want to let his long-time friend to take the brunt of that. When they arrived at one of their safe houses, Red walked straight to the bar and gulped down two fingers of scotch.

"Trouble in paradise, Raymond?" Dembe chose to address the matter now that they were alone.

Red shot around. "She's driving me insane! I don't have the slightest idea what could be wrong and she keeps snapping at me for nothing."

"Have you asked her what is wrong?"

Red laughed sarcastically. "Asked her? Oh, Dembe, that's amusing. She doesn't even try to be civil."

The bodyguard sat on the sofa. "How long has that been going on?"

Red poured himself another drink and handed one to his friend as well, then sat down next to him. "Yesterday morning. Everything was fine the evening before. When I woke up, suddenly nothing was." He laughed humorlessly.

"Has that occurred before?"

He thought back to the past four months. The most beautiful time he had had in a long time. "No."

Dembe nodded. "I have noticed how she's been curling up on the sofa, sometimes using a hot water bottle."

"What? Red turned to look at his friend.

"She seems to be in pain."

Realization flooded him, then he sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Why didn't she just tell me?"

"Maybe she's embarrassed."

Red stood then. "We need to do some shopping."

THE BLACKLIST

Liz was slowly working her way up the stairs to her apartment. Of course the elevator had to be under maintenance. She wouldn't even have left the house if not for her dog. She groaned as she pushed the door open and unleashed Hudson, who ran into the living room immediately. Liz closed the door and locked it before turning. There on the entryway table lay a white paper bag from the pharmacy, a heart shaped box of chocolate, and the most adorable teddy bear she had ever seen. She took the plushy animal and held it to her nose. It smelled just like him. She didn't know Red had it in him.

She took the three gifts and walked towards where her dog had vanished to. She stopped at the entrance of the room, watching Hudson happily head butting Red's arm. The man looked at her and smiled softly; that was all it took. Liz dropped the items on the coffee table and kneeled on the sofa next to him, crushing her lips to his. Red immediately put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as they continued kissing. When they pulled away, they were both panting, their breaths ghosting over the other's skin.

"I'm sorry," Liz said quietly, dropping her head to her chest as she started to play with the buttons of his vest.

Red pushed his fingers through her hair, lifting it from her face. "You could've just told me, sweetheart."

Liz groaned and sat down next to him, snuggling into his side. "It's embarrassing..."

"Embarrassing? Lizzie, it's completely normal," he told her, taking her hand in his while his free one stroked over her back.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"It's okay," his lips moved over her head. "Have you taken something for the pain yet?" Liz shook her head and Red let go of her hand to lean forward and grab the paper bag. "I questioned the lady at the counter for fifteen minutes, and this is apparently the best pain reliever for you." He took out a bottle and dropped two white pills on her palm, then handed her a bottle of water from the table. He let her swallow the pills before taking the bottle from her hand, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Lizzie?"

"Mhm?" Her head was already tucked under his chin again.

"I know I was away on business trips sometimes, but it didn't seem this bad the previous times."

Liz sighed. "That's because I didn't have it."

He pulled his head back to look at her. "What do you mean, you didn't have it?"

"I've always had an irregular schedule. Sometimes I won't have my period for months, and then it suddenly comes and I end up like this." She gestured at their surroundings.

"What did your doctor say?"

"My gynecologist said that they'd need to do some more testing to determine whether I need surgery or not."

He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "So?"

"So?" She asked back. "I never had the tests done."

Red groaned in frustration. "Lizzie, this is important. It's your health!"

"I'm fine. I get bad cramps for a couple of days every three months or so, it's no big deal."

He pulled away so they were eye to eye. "No big deal?! This could be anything. I'll schedule an appointment with a specialist -"

"Red! No!"

"Lizzie, I want you to be okay."

"I am okay. It's nothing."

"Then let's do the tests to determine that it actually is nothing," he argued. "Sweetheart, I don't want you to be in pain."

"I don't like this." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Red kissed her forehead. "I'll go with you. You don't have to do this alone."

Liz sighed in reluctant agreement and dropped her head back on his chest. "Thank you," he said as she finally caved. He took out the burner phone and quickly dialed. "Dembe, give Doctor Lepore a call and schedule a meeting for next Friday. We should get there in the early afternoon. Thank you." He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. "You'll see, sweetheart, Doctor Lepore is the best doctor in Boston; the whole country actually."

"Boston? We're going to Boston for this? Are you kidding me?"

"I would never joke about your health."

"Red..." She shook her head in disbelief and then leaned in to kiss his lips. "I love you."

He hummed against her mouth. "I love you, Lizzie."

_~fin~_

AN: So, I guess that's it. Hope you liked it. Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading.


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